The radical green god-squad
By Henry Lamb
web posted October 27, 2003
When the radical greens began distributing bumper stickers that
read "No moo in ‘92," and "Cattle free by "93," most people just
laughed, unable to comprehend the idea of completely eliminating
ranching in the American West. Radical greens, however, are
dedicated to the proposition that:
"A radical notion may become rational, and then, over time,
reasonable and realistic — if you work your butt off."
This is the slogan that heads Andy Kerr's web site. Kerr heads
the National
Public Lands Grazing Campaign, a coalition of radical green
groups that have been working their butts off, over the last
decade, to make the radical notion of a cattle-free-West a
reality.
A handful of radical Congressmen have now introduced
legislation, which, if adopted, would be the final blow to the
troubled ranching industry. Their plan requires taxpayers to
cough up more than $3 billion to buy grazing rights from
ranchers.
In the West, ranchers pay the federal government for the
privilege of grazing their cattle on federal land. To make the land
usable, ranchers have to build fences, install wells and miles of
pipelines to provide water for livestock, and for wildlife. Under
the best of circumstances, ranchers work their butts off to
scratch a meager living from the land.
Circumstances over the last decade have been far from best.
Aside from the problems caused by the lack of rain, radical
greens have worked their butts off to impose layer after layer of
additional hardships. After ranchers and other residents worked
for a century to rid the range of predator wolves, the radical
greens convinced Congress that wolves should be reintroduced,
at a cost of as much as $225,000 per wolf.
Moreover, the proposed legislation lists 15 different federal
programs promoted by the radical greens, that impose land use
restrictions which have incrementally tightened the noose around
the ranching industry. Then comes a trade policy that welcomes
imported beef, which is raised in countries where no similar
restrictions – or costs – exist.
Despite these far-from-best-circumstances, 82% of the 870
public land ranchers in Arizona, do not support this buy-out
scheme, according to a survey taken by Kerr's organization. Still,
the radical greens persist.
These self-appointed protectors of the public domain presume to
think they know how to manage the land better than the people
who earn their living from it. Their radical vision is to remove the
people, and return the land to the rattlesnakes, lizards – and
wolves.
These self-appointed protectors of the earth have been so
successful, they have developed a god-complex, and act as if
they, and they alone, know how to manage nature as it should be
managed.
They have convinced themselves, and a few Congressmen, that
people who disagree with their view, are an intrusion into nature,
rather than an integral part of it. Development is a blight on
nature, rather than a modification to the environment which
makes life better.
Radical greens have no problem accepting as "natural" the
slaughter of a person by a grizzly bear, but stamp a "criminal"
label on a person who kills a grizzly that threatens his life or
property. In nature's scheme of things, a human has as much right
to modify his environment, defend his life and territory, and
secure food, as any other species. Like every other species,
humans have the inherent right to use every ounce of energy and
intellect available to achieve their goals.
The self-appointed radical green god-squad, considers human
achievement to be unnatural, and seeks to cage and control all
human activity to ensure that their vision of how the world ought
to be is forced – by law – on those who disagree.
The proposed law to buy out ranchers is just another step
toward the radical green goal of total people control. Their
success in the West is dependent upon the indifference of the
people in the East. The same radical green agenda, however, is
now beginning to tighten around towns and cities in the East, in
the form of "Smart Growth," and "Sustainable Development."
A government that acquires the power to control its citizens,
rather than to be controlled by its citizens, is no longer a
government defined by the U.S. Constitution. This is the
"wrenching transformation" now underway – driven by the self-
appointed radical green god-squad.
Henry Lamb is the executive vice president of the Environmental
Conservation Organization, and chairman of Sovereignty
International.
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